Proposed rule changes could halt Uber's e-hailing service in Denver

DENVER - Uber, a technology startup that allows users to arrange for apersonal car pickup via a smartphone app, said Tuesday that it could be forced to shut down in Denver if rule changes proposed by state regulators are adopted.

One amendment would state that licensed limousine and town car drivers, which Uber contracts with for its service, can only charge a "specified fixed price."

Costs for rides arranged through the Uber app are based on distanced traveled, with a minimum fee of $15.

"This is akin to telling a hotel it is illegal to charge by the night," Uber's Denver general manager Will McCollum wrote in a blog post Tuesday.

Colorado Public Utilities Commission spokesman Terry Bote said the change is "a clarification to what's already in the rule." A separate section of the transportation regulation states that "a charter order shall also contain the prearranged price agreed to between the luxury limousine carrier and the chartering party."